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MALIBU SURFSIDE NEWS | October 7, 2020 | 11
POSTED TO malibusurfsidenews.com
Traditional Halloween scared away by coronavirus
9
DAYS AGO
SCOTT STEEPLETON, Editor
If you thought kids in Malibu
would be trick or treating this
year, think again.
The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention along with
the Los Angeles County Department
of Public Health say the
tradition of going door to door
for candy is unsafe because of
coronavirus.
County public health officials
banned traditional trick or treating,
saying “it can be very difficult
to maintain proper social
distancing on porches and at
front doors.”
The same goes for “trunk or
treating,” where children go car
to car instead of door to door.
Other non-permissible activities
include gatherings or parties
with non-household members —
even if they are conducted outdoors
— along with mass gatherings
like carnivals, festivals,
live entertainment and haunted
houses.
Permitted activities, according
to the county, include:
• Online “parties” and costume
or pumpkin carving
contests
• Car parades “where individuals
dress up or decorate
their vehicles and drive by
‘judges’ that are appropriately
physically distanced”
• Drive-thru events like
Nights of The Jack and
those where participants remain
in the car and receive
“commercially packaged
non-perishable treats” from
an organizer.
You’re also free to decorate
your home and yard.
School on Wheels, founded
by the late Malibu resident Agnes
Stevens, is hosting the first
ever “Ghoul on Wheels” virtual
costume contest, where the registration
fee — suggested $10
per participant — will go toward
homeless students.
After registering at schoolonwheels.org,
submit a photo of
yourself, your child or your pet
in costume (via the link you will
receive by email upon registration)
between Oct. 26-31. Entrants
can also post a photo on
Instagram and tag it with #ghoulonwheels
(public accounts only).
Only registered contestants
will be eligible for prizes and all
submissions will be viewable on
the School on Wheels website.
School on Wheels staff will
choose the winners and announce
them the following week.
Categories are:
• Best kid
• Best teen
• Best adult
• Best pet
• Best family
• Best team (not all members
are required to be physically
in one place, but entries
must have coordinated costumes
and submit a photo as
one entry).
Prizes are a swag bag of
School on Wheels goodies including
T-shirt, hat, stickers,
bookmarks and more; and a $50
Amazon gift card (for individual
categories only).
Tutors, students or family
Meals on Wheels West is forgoing its in-person Monster Bash
fundraiser for a virtual party where adults can have special cocktail
packages delivered to enjoy during the event.
members of a tutor or student
can register for free.
Meals on Wheels West, which
serves Malibu, is taking its annual
Monster Bash to Zoom 7
p.m. Oct. 30. Donations come
with a special Monster Bash experience:
• $60: Champagne Toast Kit
• $60: Witch’s Brew Cocktail
Kit
• $100: VIP Kit (both of the
above)
In addition, there’s an online
costume contest and an online
auction featuring close-to-home
staycations and dining experiences
to vacations in Lake Tahoe
and beyond.
The bidding and costume contest
submissions kick off Oct. 1.
For more information, go to britesiders.com.
For information on Meals on
Wheels West, go to mealsonwheelswest.org.
Provisional short-term rental ordinance emphasizes enforcement
MICHELE WILLER-ALLRED,
Staff Reoporter
The Malibu City Council
has adopted a provisional
short-term rental “enforcement”
ordinance, which
will take effect on Jan. 15.
The council on Tuesday
voted 4-0, with Jefferson
Wagner absent, to give final
approval to the ordinance
that gives the city enforcement
tools while a separate
and permanent short-term
host ordinance is brought
back to the council for final
approval.
City Manager Reva Feldman
said the host ordinance
is scheduled to return to the
council on Oct. 26.
On Sept. 14, the council
gave initial approval of the
interim enforcement ordinance
to “add some teeth”
now with short-term rental
violators. At that same
meeting, the council voted
in favor of bringing back
the host ordinance, which,
because of numerous
changes, will have another
first reading.
The California Coastal
Commission would have to
certify amendments on the
host ordinance, which can be
a lengthy process.
City Attorney Christi Hogin
said the enforcement
ordinance doesn’t change
land use regulations regarding
short-term rentals. However,
she added that existing
enforcement tools are not as
effective as they should be,
and that this will give the
city “the ultimate ability to
shut down a bad actor, and
we intend to use it aggressively
as soon as we can
start Jan. 15.”
The lengthy enforcement
ordinance allows the city to
deny or revoke a short-term
rental permit because of
outstanding code enforcement
violations, and if an
owner has knowingly made
false, misleading or fraudulent
statements on required
permit applications. Permits
can also be revoked if the
property has received two or
more citations for violations
of the city’s noise ordinance
within a year.
However, not everyone is
in favor of the enforcement
ordinance as demonstrated
by several public speakers
during Tuesday’s virtual
meeting.
Bruce Silverstein, a City
Council candidate in the
November election, said
that the city of Malibu is
governed by its zoning
code, which does not permit
property in residential
neighborhoods to be used
as “mini hotels,” which is a
commercial enterprise.
“The ordinance you’re
proposing will now definitely
allow for the first time
uses that are not currently
specified anywhere in the
law of Malibu. Again, you’re
going by lure, not by law,”
said Silverstein.
Silverstein added that enforcement
doesn’t require
a temporary ordinance that
affirmatively allows shortterm
rentals for the first
time in the city.
“I said repetitively, the
reason why you’re going
down this slippery slope is
because you’re being misled
by the city manager
and city attorney, who are
working to retain the tax
revenue from short-term
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